Police reforms: causes, outcomes and a way forward

Pakistan’s good governance; its justice, law and order situation; its peace and prosperity in life of its citizens; its fight against terrorism and corruption; its goal to achieve rule of law and enforcement of law and its mission to eradicate numerous social evils, from drug addiction to heinous crime of child abuse, depends primarily on police department. Once Mary Frances Berry said, “When you have police officers who abuse citizens, you erode public confidence in law enforcement. That makes the job of good police officers unsafe”.

Today, these black sheep carry a medal of disgrace for the whole of the department. Pakistan is in dire need of police reforms, even it seems to be Penelope’s web. Yet, the reforms are still possible for which we need to first understand the disease and then look for its cure.

Policing was established in the subcontinent in the Mughal era. Initially, land-owners and village-heads were entrusted with this responsibility. Later on, this was changed by the British administration. They introduced a magisterial and a new police system. Then around the 1850s, Sir Charles Napier, who was inspired by the Irish constabulary, introduced a different police model in the Sindh. Punjab followed the suit. Afterwards, with the adoption of Police Act, 1861, and Police Rules, 1934, a full-fledged separate institution, as it seems today, was established. This was carried by us until the Police Order, 2002, came into being. The idea was to establish a good policing in society, with inbuilt accountability alongside the check and balance over the abuse and misuse of powers. Unfortunately, this still seems to be a dream. The police are fully equipped with the powers to fulfil their duty. True, in a society with a profusion of pickpockets to land grabbers; from white-collar smart criminals to wanted terrorists, one cannot imagine living on his own; without the protection of a state. That is why we build police to maintain public order, safety and enforce the law; to prevent and investigate the crime and to bring culprits to justice. Therefore, the law has bestowed them with ample powers to make sure no mistake is committed in this regard. Their chief powers are provided under chapter V and XIV of Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898, and in Police Order, 2002, along with Police Rules, 1934. They can arrest without warrant, and even can ask anyone to account for one’s ostensible means of substance.

The issue arises when the policemen cross the red line and abuse and misuse their powers, sometimes to pander to their high-ups and often for ill-gotten gains. As it is said, a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, but the old Adam never accepts it. To quench the thirst of more and more, police officers get caught in the hands of evil. The arch-rival parties offer a huge bribe for various reasons; to fabricate and prolong the investigation; to put pressure on the other side and to even torture the accused under arrest. In such cases, parties are often at daggers and officials get a chance to fish in troubled waters.

Apart from greed, sometimes undue pressure becomes the reason for the police’s failure. After the lodgment of an F.I.R. (First Information Report), the investigating officer has to complete its investigation in 14 days from the date of arrest of accused. Then, he is duty-bound to submit the challan report within three additional days. One single investigating officer has to deal with numerous cases, within meagre resources, and no state backup and buck up. The officers’ raison d’etre of acceptance of bribery cannot be simply put aside. Where there is a hunger, morality has no work there. One officer must not be burdened with the workload, which outweighs his working capacity.

Furthermore, the rotten infrastructure, paucity of facilities and lack of training add insult to the injuries. With a huge backlog of cases to investigate, they are sometimes burdened to maintain the police stations, to arrange stationery and furniture on their own. A constable who has a duty of patrolling on the motorbike has to pay for its petrol from his pocket. Worst of all, clean water is not available in police stations, and the station house officer is supposed to arrange it himself. On the other hand, an F.A. or B.A. pass investigating officer is deputed to deal with and collect the forensic evidence. As it is said, the one who lives in the glasshouse should not throw stones, the government and respective authorities are equally responsible for this crisis, we are facing.

There has been seen a recent surge in police torture with the deaths of eight citizens in this year alone

Be that as it may, no one is above the law and no one is allowed to take the law into its own hands, no justification is accepted for a crime unless provided by the law. There has been seen a recent surge in police torture with the deaths of eight citizens in this year alone. The citizens are losing confidence in the police. They fear to call it for help in a crisis. The downtrodden have no money to pay to access and gain justice.

Police torture has become another source of terrorism in our society. If someone is, unfortunately, raped, murdered, or looted, he will have a Hobson’s choice; either to pay for registration and proper investigation of the case or get ready for injustice.

Under these circumstances, it is high time for the legislators and concerned authorities to not let the grass grow under their feet and fulfil their duty to revamp the police institution. In this regard, it is recommended that foremostly, it must be depoliticised. Its abuse and misuse of powers must be checked regularly and stringent legislative reforms are introduced in prevalent legislation. An independent accountability forum or authority must be formulated for keeping a strict check and balance on policing. The postings and transfers must not be based on personal motives or relations. The tenure of the station house officer and high-ups must be reduced with a parallel transfer system. The federal and provincial governments must legislate, with an iron will, a coherent and unified policy for the whole country. The complaints against the police partisan behaviour or fabrication of evidence must be heard by the judiciary and severe punishments, as a deterrent, should be legislated. Deaths under police custody must be called terrorism of police and should be dealt with following anti-terrorism laws. Further, the burden of the backlog of cases on one police officer must be reduced while their pays and annuities should be increased. A special training programme for proper investigation and how to deal with forensic technology should be started. Most importantly, CCTV cameras should be installed in all police stations. As in foreign countries, all police officers who are deputed for investigation must wear pocket cameras when they are on patrol.

Lastly, judicial magistrates must be obliged to maintain a weekly check on the arrests and pending investigation cases.